Clip feeding device



Feb. 11, 1969 J. F. EARP 3,426,501

cLI'P FEEDING DEVICE Filed Oct. 24, 1966 Sheet of 4 INVENTO/P JAM [5 F. [AR/ A T TOR/VEVS J. F. EARP Feb. 11, 1969 CLIP FEEDING DEVICE Sheet Filed Oct. 24, 1966 INVENTOR JW/As f. 544w ATTORNEYS Feb. 1 1, 1969 J. F. EARP CLIP FEEDING DEVICE Sheet Filed Oct. 24, 1966 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS J. F. EARP CLIP FEEDING DEVICE Feb. 11, 1969 Sheet Filed Oct. 24, 1966 F l G 6 INVENTOR J4/W15 1:. [AP/0 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A carrying clip applying machine having an extended lever which engages the bottom clip of a clip stack and moves it from its stacked position at an upper position of a drum member and moves it to a lower position on the drum member to apply it to a six-pack can unit. The lever being in the form of a bell-crank and controlled by a spring member and cam member so as to be accelerated when engaging the clip when it is removed from its stack thus eliminating any skip feeding of the clip member during its removal operation.

This invention relates generally to multiple can packaging machines, and more particularly to a novel and improved clip feeding device for applying packaging and carrying hand clips to groups of said cans. A machine of this type is disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,267,638, issued Aug. 23, 1966, on an application of James F. Harp, and which is assigned to the .assignee of the present application.

One object of the invention is to provide a feeding device for successively delivering clips from a magazine to a rotary applicator drum in a rapid manner without skip feeding of the clips.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine having a can clip applicator unit which compensates for the high speed of the machine by incorporation of a retard apparatus in feeding clips to the applicator drum.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clip applicator drum which provides for the proper spacing and alignment of the clips on the drum while allowing said drum to operate at a high rate of speed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a can clip applicator device such that only a single feed member is required to transfer each clip from the magazine to the applicator drum.

A final object of the invention is to provide a clip applicator device which allows the clips to be positively transferred from a driven stack of clips in a magazine onto an applicator drum by accelerating the preceding delivered clip so as not to interfere with the movement of the next succeeding clip and thereby reduce time idelay and consequent skip feeding.

These objects, and other incidental ends and advantages will more fully appear in the progress of the disclosure and be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a high speed, automatic, six-pack can clip applying machine utilizing the feeding device of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary elevational view enlarged, of the feeding device illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged end elevational view taken substantially in the plane indicated 'by the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are sectional and elevation views of the drum mechanism of FIG. 2.

While a certain illustrative clip feeding device will be described, it should be understood that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, equivalents, and uses falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the invention is there exemplified in an illustrative clip applying machine (FIG. 1) having a base member 20 provided with a plurality of suitable supporting uprights 21, powered by a main driving motor 22 and arranged to operate upon adjacent rows of cans. In the present instance, the objective is to package groups of cans by means of uni tary clips such as, for example, the one disclosed in Gooding application Ser. No. 452,770, now Patent No. 3,346,106, issued Oct. 10, 1967, assigned to the same assignee as the subject application and incorporated by reference herein. As described in the aforementioned application the clips are made of flexible material being preferably of plastic, and are formed with snap-over rim flanges, adapted to be pressed down over the top chime of the cans. As indicated in FIG. 3 each clip 48 has a pair of finger receiving openings 49 are formed in the clips for carrying and handling purposes.

The can clip machine comprises five main sections which are shown in FIG. 1 as an in-feed can conveying unit 32; a can control unit 34; a clip applicator unit 36; a clip magazine feed unit 38; and an inspection unit 40.

The in-feed can conveying unit 32 is shown as an endless conveyor 30 for feeding two rows of cans from a delivery conveyor 28 to the can control unit 34. The cans are divided into two lanes by a separator plate (not shown) and positioned on the conveyor belt 30. The conveyor belt 30 is initially driven from an auxiliary starting drive motor (not shown) which is provided with a suitable over-running clutching arrangement to initially drive the loaded in-feed conveyor 30. At a certain percentage of the ndrmal ma chine operating speed the clutching arrangement allows the main drive motor 22 to take over the driving of the in-feed conveyor. This sequence of operation enables the cans on the conveyor 30 to apply pressure to the cans already in the can control unit to avoid forming gaps between the cans while the main drive motor is starting the remainder of the machine into motion.

The cans continue their movement in two lines and enter into the can control unit 34 as disclosed, for example, in my US. Patent 3,267,638. In this stage the cans are arranged into groups of six and positively gripped to insure exact positioning just prior to their engagement by a clip being dispensed from the applicator unit 36. Located above the conveyor unit 32 and carried on a pedestal or frame member 42 and posts 44 is a tray 46 for retaining supplies of clips 47 for manual delivery to the clip magazine feeding unit 38.

The clip feeding unit 38 comprises a unitary structure including a clip retaining chute 50, and a clip feeding and withdrawing guide 52 having a rectangular cross-section. The individual clips are indicated at 48 while the stack itself, generally indicated at 47, is disposed within the guide 52 in the manner shown in FIGURE 3. The clip guide 52 includes a clip drive system 54. A pair of endless belts 56 are mounted on the guide 52 on opposite sides, respectively, and are so positioned in suitable openings to engage the sides of the nested clips. and to combine with the guide 52 to hold them firmly while moving them through the guide toward the applicator unit 36.

The side belts 56 pass around a lower driven rollers 59, and have idler rollers 60 (FIG. 1) at the opposite end of their course. Each shaft 62 for driven rollers 59 is driven by a suitable gear connection with the shaft of its associated motor 64. The side belts are driven in unison together with the main motor 22 when the micro switch 58 is closed by contact with the upper edge of the nested clips 47. While the feeding unit 38 is inclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to allow for a gravity feed system from chute 50 it is to be understood that the feeding unit 38 could be positioned at various angles, including a horizontal orientation, without departing from the scope of the invention. In the case of an horizontal alignment, however, it should be noted that a supplemental power feeding arrangement, to replace the gravitational force, would be required to assist the clip drive system 54.

Each motor 64 is mounted by means of L-brackets 61 bolted on the support plates 70 suitably secured, as by welding, to the guide 52. The clip feeding assembly 38 is mounted on an inclined support frame member 71 only partially visible in FIGURE 1, cantilevered from the drive housing 94 (FIG. 4) of the application unit 36.

The opening of the clip guide 52 is partially closed by supporting bar 108 extending across the upper end of guide 52 adjacent its upper wall 51. During operation, the stack of clips 47 travel through the guide 52 while being held in registration with the opening in the guide adjacent the drum surface 92 by bar 108. Due to the fact that the clips are flexible and because the lowermost clip of the stack has its lower portion unsupported, the driving force of the side belts 56 will cause the lowermost clip to be forced into contact with the drum surface, as illustrated in FIG. 2. It will be noted that lower wall 53 of guide 52 serves as a gate between its lower edge and the drum suflicient to permit passage to the left of only one clip at a time, succeeding clips being driven by belts 56 from the bottom of the stack 47.

The drum or clip advancing carrier, generally indicated at 63, is mounted for rotation on the front end of horizontal drive shaft 66 by means of hub 65. The shaft 66 is driven by the main motor 22 by means of suitable gearing and endless chains as shown, for example, in the aforementioned US. Patent 3,267,638. The applicator drum 63 is provided with a plurality of arcuate slots 67 through which the bolts 68 pass whereby the drum may be radially adjusted relative to the hub 65 for timing purposes.

The clips 48 are fed to a plurality of feed members generally indicated at 72 which are mounted in circumferentially spaced relation on drum 63. In the illustrated embodiment, the feed members consist of eight equally spaced actuating levers 72 pivotally mounted on the offset web portion 74 of drum 63. A single lever 72a is shown in detail in the partial section of FIGURE 2. The levers 72 are of the bell-crank type and include a pin 76 (FIGURE 4) which is bolted to the support web 74 and back-up plate 78 and has its enlarged end 80 journalled to the lever 74 by means of bearing 81. Each lever 72 has a cam follower 82 journalled on its short limb 84 while its long limb 86 extends radially into elongated slots 87 (FIGURE 6) equally spaced around the periphery of the drum. Each radial limb 86 is provided with an end cap or clip engaging boss 88, secured by means of cap screws 90, so as to extend past the outer peripheral surface 92 of the drum. Each boss 88 is shaped to be received into the front finger hole 49 (FIGURE 3) of each clip in a manner to be explained.

As best seen in FIGURE 4, the fixed housing 94 for the horizontal drive shaft 66 of drum 63 has a cam 96 fixably mounted thereto by suitable bolts 98. Cam track 100 of the cam 96 has a generally arcuate face to receive the follower 82 during the rotational travel on drum 63. The cam followers 82 are biased to engage the lead-in portion of cam track .100 by suitable springs "102, which may be of the compression type, one end of which is seated in a pocket formed by the support block 103 suit ably bolted to spaced supports 104 fixed to plate 78. The

other end of spring 102 engages the side of limb 86 and is retained in place by means of seating pins 106.

After each cam follower 82 initially engages the cam track during its counter-clockwise rotation the cam track radius is gradually increased or stated differently its curvature is flattened and thereby moved closer to the axis of the drum causing each lever 72 to pivot in a clockwise direction as the drum rotates. When the individual lever 72a is in clip or loading position its long or picking limb 86a is retarded in a clockwise direction its maximum amount in slots 87 from its radial position shown in phantom outline in the figure. The limb 86 maintains its relative retarded position until its boss 88a has engaged the lowermost clip of the stack as shown by the phantom outline of clip 48a shown partially withdrawn from the guide 52. The limb 86a remains retarded until its cam roller 82 clears the cam track 100, whereupon it is rapidly advanced or accelerated by the compression spring 102 to its radial position, shown by lever 72b in FIG. 2. It will be noted that stop means, in the form of bolt 83 located in block 79, is adjustably located to limit the forward pivotal movement of limb 86a to its biased radial location.

The main function of the cam retarding means, just described, is to provide sufficient time for the boss 88a to engage the front finger hole 49 of the clip 48a to prevent skip feeding of the clips. It will be noted in FIG. 2 that by retarding the lever 72a the boss 88a is oriented at a small acute angle of approach with respect to clip 48a to assist in its engagement with the front finger hole for positive pick-up of the clip.

A further advantage derived from the time delay feeding device of the instant invention results from the rapid counter-clockwise advance of limb 86a which imports an acceleration force component on the clip 48a to assist the limb 86a in faster removal of the clip 48a from the stack of clips 47. The result is that further time is gained to allow the next lowermost clip to move into its pick-up location and thereby further insure against skip feeding of the clips.

Continued rotation will move the clip into engagement with an arcuately curved back-up plate provided adjacent the lefthand side of drum 63 as seen in FIG. 2. The back-up plate 110 is generally concentric with and placed a slight distance from the drum, the plate extend-- ing from a position to the left of clip magazine 38 to a position immediately above the rows of cans 26. The plate member 110 has welded thereto outwardly directed supporting flanges 111 which are secured to the underside of the guide 52 and the machine base in a suitable manner. The back-up plate 110 is adapted to slidably engage the outer surfaces of the clips carried on the drum as they are advanced in their counter-clockwise rotation. Arcuate side plates 114, coextensive with the back-up plate 110 and extending on both sides of the drum, are utilized to insure proper alignment of the clips on the drum. The plates are shown removed except in FIG. 2 for the purposes of clarity.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, because lever 72 has been retarded there is a relatively large spacing distance X between the clip 48a being withdrawn and the next preceding clip 48b; while there is a smaller spacing distance Y between the clips 48b, 48c and 48c, 48d on the drum. The larger spacing X, achieved by retarding lever 72a together with the rapid advance of lever 72b, allows sufficient time for the clip 48a to move into place against the drum surface and thus be ready to be engaged by lever 72a. in this regard it will be apparent that it is desirable to maintain distance Y at a minimum as the clips are applied to cans 26, in order to achieve closer spacing between groups of in fed cans with a resultant increase in the rate of packaged six packs, eight packs etc. produced by the machine.

As the clip 48d shown being applied to the cans moves past the lower end of guide plate 110 the flexible nature of the clip will cause the edge of the clip adjacent the cans 26 to extend downwardly, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The synchronized driving means of the machine is such that the top edges of the leading pair of cans 26a contacts the forward portion of the clip 48d and pulls this clip along with the moving cans. Continued rotation will move the clip retaining boss 88d into engagement with the inter stice defined between the first pair of cans 26a and the second pair 26b. As the pairs of cans move under the drum 63 its surface 92 rolls on the clip completing the mounting of the clip on the cans and causing it to be firmly secured in place, as described in the aforementioned patent application 452,770, for example.

The stripping means 116 comprises a pair of tongue members 118 for positioning in each groove 120 and extending across the top of the cans. The stripping means 116 serves to strip the applied clip off the drum 63. Each assembled package 122 of six cans is then moved forward or to the right as shown in FIG. 1 by means of the con tinuous conveyor 124 for pick-up by the inspection unit 40 which may be of any suitable type.

What I claim is:

1. In a clip feeding device the combination of rotary drum means, guide means adjacent said drum means for holding stacked clips, a plurality of feeder means on said drum successively engageable with the lowermost clip of said stack to draw the clips onto said drum means, means for retarding each said feeder means in a direction oppo site to the direction of rotation of said drum means prior to engagement with the lowermost clip, means for accelerating each said feeder means in the direction of rotation of said drum means after engagement with the lowermost clip, said retarding means and said accelerating means being in timed relation wherein each said feeder means is accelerated prior to the engagement of the next succeeding feeder means with the next lowermost clip of said stack.

2. A clip feeding device as defined in claim 1, wherein said guide means includes drive means for positively forcing the stacked clips into contact with said drum means.

3. A clip feeding device as defined in claim 1, wherein said feeder means are in the form of bell-crank type lever members pivotally mounted on said drum means, each said lever member having a substantially radial long limb and a substantially tangential short limb, said long limb extending past the outer peripheral surface of said drum means.

4. A clip feeding device as defined in claim 3, wherein said accelerating means comprises a resilient member operative on each said lever for biasing its long limb in a radial position.

5. A clip feeding device as defined in claim 4, wherein said retarding means comprises a fixed segmental arcuate cam track for engagement with said short limb to retard said long limb into clip engaging position.

6. In a machine for assembling containers into packs held together by generally flat clips, the combination of means for directing a procession of containers to a clip and container assembly station, rotary drum means adjacent said assembly station, guide means adjacent said drum means for holding stacked clips at a location circumferentially spaced from said assembly station, said drum means including:

(a) a plurality of lever means pivotally connected on said drum means,

(b) each said lever means including a first radiating limb member adapted to engage the lowermost clip in the stack to draw the clip onto said drum means,

(c) biasing means operative on each said lever means to bias said first limb in a radial position,

(d) each said lever means including a second cam engaging limb member for engagement with a segmented cam fixed on said machine,

(e) said cam being operative on said second limb to retard said first radiating limb in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said drum means prior to the engagement of said radiating limb with the lowermost clip of the stack, and.

(f) said cam being oriented to disengage said second limb to allow said bias means to accelerate said first limb in the direction of rotation of said drum means prior to the engagement of the next succeeding lever means with the next lowermost clip of said stack.

WAYNE A. MORSE, JR., Primary Examiner. 

